The history of the Mk III Cortina in North America is short. While the Mk III was introduced in Britain in October 1970, it wasn't until about August 1971 that the Mk III reached North America, and unlike the Mk I and Mk II before it, sales of the federalized version were limited to Canada. In the United States, Ford had abandoned the Cortina in favor of the new domestic Pinto. In Canada Ford decided to continue selling the Cortina through Lincoln Mercury dealers (along side the Capri which was also sold in North America through LM dealers).

Considered 1972 models when introduced, the Mk III Cortina came in two models and three body styles. Sedans and station wagon were only available in "L" level trim and the coupe was offered in either L or GT trim. A pre-introduction advertisement which ran in a spring 1971 issue of Readers Digest showed a XL trim car, but apparently Ford of Canada changed their mind about offering a XL before the first catalogs were printed in July 1971.

The German-built 2000 OHC "Pinto" was the standard engine for all models, but the Federalized version of the Kent 1600 pushrod engine (also common to early Federal Capris and Pintos) was an option on L trimmed cars with manual transmissions (a four speed) for the first half of the 1972 model year.

The main changes for 1973 were a Federal spec energy absorbing front bumper, new styled wheels for the GT and the deletion of the station wagon. For 1974 Ford of Canada replaced the Cortina with a slightly modified version of the Pinto called the Mercury Bobcat. The official reason given for the discontinuation of the Cortina in Canada was the high cost of modifying the car to meet federal safety and air quality standards (the same reason given for discontinuing the Mk II Cortina in the US three years earlier). The unofficial reason seems to be the poor assembly quality that bedeviled British car manufactures in the 1970s. It is worth noting that Chrysler (Plymouth Cricket) and General Motors Canada (Vauxhall Firenza) also discontinued the North American sales of their British-built cars in 1972/73.

The pros of the Mk III were styling, ride, performance and value. The cons were poor assembly quality and a predisposition towards rust which gave the car a bad reputation in its day. Despite the reputation, the Mk III sold in record numbers compared to the Mk I and Mk II. Sales for calendar year 1971 were 6,889 units (some of these would have been left over Mk IIs), for 1972 - - 12,135 and for 1973 -- 12,783. Of these 30,000 + cars, only 16 Mk IIIs are known by the Registry to have survived. This number includes two UK spec imports and an Australian spec six cylinder model (a Falcon straight six fitted at the factory).

I don't have that information broken out. Back in 2004 the count was 13 cars, 8 Ls, 4 GTs, 0 Station Wagons and 1 2000E. Since then I am aware of one UK spec wagon in southern California, but the owner has since died and I don't know what became of it. I am not aware of a single Canadian spec station wagon survivor. The GTs are of course all 2-doors, and the L's are about 50/50._________________European Ford Collector